Auray, Vannes & St-Cado

Both Auray and Vannes are medieval towns with quaint streets to wander down. We found Auray particularly pleasant as it is a small town with the ancient quarter of St-Goustan down by the river with a lovely bridge and restaurants and bars to watch the world go by in.

Vannes is a lot bigger and much more touristy – we even heard British voices for the first time in weeks! It is at the head of the Golfe du Morbihan and is a thriving place. The old quarter is an interesting mix of old streets with modern shops with the marina at its heart. It even has a tourist train to take people round an historical tour of the town.

St-Cado is a small hamlet on the river Etel just north of Belz. It has the epitomous view of Brittany with its oyster farmer’s cottage on a small island in the harbour. The village itself is named after the patron saint of the deaf who came from Wales to set up the church there. This is accessed via a stone bridge and would be very busy in summer. However, on a Monday morning, it was a typical sleepy French village.

For us, though, the charm of the place is the cottage that is really picture postcard pretty. Sadly, we were there at low water so it did not look as impressive as it can.